Posts Tagged: predator

Henrietta, our Stagmomantis limbata praying mantis, perches on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia).
She is as patient as she is persistent.
The drone fly, aka syrphid and also known as a hover fly or flower fly, makes the fatal mistake of touching down on...

The sky darkens. The temperature drops several degrees. A breeze rustles the leaves of the African blue basil. Dogs bark. And off in the distance, a hawk shrills.
A partial solar eclipse is about to happen in Vacaville, Calif.
I am watching the...

Ever seen assassination attempts in your garden?
They are not pretty if you're the prey. Neither are the successful attempts.
Take the Zelus renardii, aka the leafhopper assassin bug.
They've been hanging out in our nectarine tree, cosmos,...

Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you go hungry.
Take the case of the huge jumping spider (a female Phidippus audax or bold jumping spider, as identified by Wade Spencer of the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology) hanging out in our Spanish lavender....

It's one of the most recognizable of all insects--if you can find it.
Ever had someone poke you and point toward a plant: "Look, there's a praying mantis?"
"Where?"
"Right there. See it?"
"No. Where is it?
"Right there. It's right there. Can't you...